Heather's favorite random and useless facts

I have seen some blogs lately with their favorite random/useless facts. So, I thought I would give you a list of my favorite random/useless facts. Enjoy!

-          Money isn't made out of paper; it's made out of cotton.

-          On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily. (Scary!)

-          Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.

-          A cockroach can live for 10 days without a head.

-          Cows "moo" in different accents according to where the live. Just like we talk! (Cool!)

-          Until coffee gained popularity, beer was the beverage of choice for breakfast in most urban areas of the United States. (this does not suprise me one bit!!)

-          96% of the U.S. population lives within 20 miles of a Wal-mart.

-          There is a city named Unalaska in Alaska. (this is for my friend Tamzin!)

-          A Japanese superstition is that if you lay down after a meal, you'll turn into a cow. (ok...)

-          7-11 sells 10,000 pots of coffee an hour, every hour, every day.

-          Mr. Rogers was an ordained minister.

-          You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.

-          Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian, and had only ONE testicle.

-          Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found edible.

-          Coca-Cola would be green if coloring weren’t added to it.

-          It's against the law to burp, or sneeze in a church in Nebraska.

-          Almonds are members of the peach family.

-          The only domestic animal not mentioned in the Bible is the cat. (now I know why I don't like cats! LOL)

-          The house fly hums in the middle octave key of F. (SWEET!!!)

-          In Cleveland, Ohio, it's illegal to catch mice without a hunting license.

-          The electric chair was invented by a dentist. (Hmmmmm....)

-          Butterflies taste with their feet.

-          By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you cannot sink into quicksand. (Good to Know!)

-          Tommy Lee Jones and Al Gore were freshman roommates at Harvard. (odd!)

-          Ketchup was sold in the 1830s as medicine.

-          Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying!

-          The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.

-          Apples are more efficient than caffeine in waking you up in the morning.

-          The first owner of the Marlboro Company died of lung cancer.

-          Los Angeles' full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula."

-          In 10 minutes, a hurricane expends more energy than all of the nuclear weapons in the world combined.

-          In Cuba, toasters are illegal. (WHY???)

-          The chances of you dying on the way to get your lottery tickets is greater than your chances of winning. (dang it!!!)

-          One in three dog owners say they have talked to their pets on the phone. (ok, I admit that I have done this!)

-          Real diamonds can be made from peanut butter! (I might want to try this!)

-     In Tokyo, they sell toupees for dogs.

-    Gloucestershire airport in England use to blast Tina Turner songs on the runway to scare birds away! (hahahahahaha!)

-    According to U.S. FDA standards, 1 cup of orange juice is allowed to contain 10 fruit fly eggs but only 2 maggots. (ewwww!!! )

 

It's Been Awhile...

It's been awhile. A long while. Life has been crazy. Crazy busy. My demo is finished (WAAAAAA HOOOO!!!!). If you have not heard it, you must be living under a rock or something. ;) It IS on my artist page on Facebook! I am BEYOND thrilled with the results of it. I am completely and utterly blessed to have been able to record at Sound Logic with Jeff and Taylor. To have Jason playing for me was the most amazing thing ever. I could never thank him enough for it. So now comes the fun part. Promotion. Getting my CD's made, promotion, getting booked, getting my name out there and getting my band together. Lots of work to be done. I am very excited about it. I have had a few people helping me with promotion and I may possibly be working with someone to manage me. I am amazed that this could even happen and just want to thank everyone who has helped me come to this place. In a year from now, I want to look back and know that I did all I could to try. Try to get things rolling. Get my dreams going. To NOT give up even if I get a no or a maybe. I want to sing...not in the shower or the car. To sing for everyone to hear.

Beyond Amazing

I know it is only Thursday however, this week has been beyond amazing. I don't even know where to begin....I guess I will start at the beginning! My husband started working day shift on Monday this week and I actually get to spend time with him now. It is like, I get to talk to him for more than five minutes a day in person. It is wonderful. We get to cook dinner together, go on walks with our dogs together, watch TV together...stuff normal people should be doing and we were not able to because of his work schedule. I haven't even yelled at him yet this week!!! ;) Then, there is this thing...this amazing thing I am doing in the recording studio. I must say, I did not get much sleep Monday night due to my nervous excitement for Tuesday night. I just did not know what to expect. I had never recorded in a professional recording studio before. Only home recording studios. I did everything I could to hide my silly, elementary school girl grin when I walked into the recording studio on Tuesday night. I mean, I had been in this studio before to meet with Jeff Anderson to talk about my plans for my future, my demo, etc..but this was it. It was my dream becoming a reality. Jason Bennett, my piano player, was already there warming up and Jeff was getting all the mics and everything technical set up. This week we were there to lay all the piano tracks and I was just doing scratch vocals. So, Jason was the one in the hot seat! :) He did amazing and I could never thank him enough for all of his help. He is truly a gift piano player. We laid done 5 piano tracks for my demo and I will be going back to the studio next week to do the vocal portion. Jeff, who owns the studio, is outstanding. I could never thank him enough for taking on this project of mine. I never thought in a million years I would actually be doing this. It was a dream...but let me tell you folks. Don't give up on your dreams no matter how big or how small they are because they can lead to something amazing. Everything has fallen into place. It is just up to me what I do with what I have been given.

And now, we wait.

This morning I mailed one of the most important documents in my lifetime. I even attempted to go to the post office before 8am. That failed....they were closed. I got a bit over excited. This morning I mailed my submission package to "The Voice". There is no going back now. Whether I get rejected or accepted onto the show, I tried. I really tried. I made a DVD....I sang my heart out on two songs on that DVD. I filled out twelve pages of paperwork. And in the mail it went this morning. There is no turning back. And now, we wait. This is the part I do not like. Waiting. What if they hate it? What if they love it? There are butterflies in my stomach and excitement in my heart. No one but God knows what will happen. The outcome could change my life. I am telling myself that no matter what the outcome that I will be happy because I tried. Honestly, I know I will be upset if I do not make it however I know whatever happens is in God's plans and I need to accept whatever they may be. I just need to come to grips with that because the outcome will be here soon. So now, we wait. I should know by the end of August. :)

It's starting....and I am starting to get nervous.

I am starting to get a tad nervous. And if you know me, this really isn't me. I do not really get nervous performing any longer. I know who I am as a performer and really enjoy every bit of performing. I sing every Sunday in our praise band at church so I am use to being in front of people singing. But these next few months could determine a lot. Saturday, I am meeting with Jason Bennett. He is the amazing and talented piano player who will be working with me on my demo. Not only are we practicing for the upcoming demo, we are recording my DVD to submit to The Voice. GULP!!! I have even borrowed some really nice recording equipment from where I work to record it. This is where the nerves kick in. I think they are excited nerves. "What if" nerves. What if Carson Daly shows up and invites me to the show? What if he doesn't? What if I fall flat on my face? What if, What if, What if????? YIKES ALMIGHTY!!!! Then.....I so thought I had decided on the songs for my demo and now I am wavering on a few. How can I be doing this so late in the game? Jason might kill me?!!?!????!!?!?!?!! AND THEN....I think about when my demo is done. What if I get absolutely NO bookings from this? No shows. No responses from labels. NADA!!!! Then I think....So what???!!!! I am going to try and do everything I can to make this happen. See what is going on here? So many emotions. Things are starting, starting to happen and I am making them happen. Maybe that is why I am nervous because it all falls on me and I want this so badly. I am doing everything in my power to have as many positive thoughts as I possibly can. I think the closer my demo dates get the more nervous excitement I will have. I have never recorded in a professional recording studio, only a home recording studio so this is a new step for me. And hopefully a good step in the right direction.

MASSIVE song frustration

I am suppose to be working on selecting songs for my demo that I will be recording with Jason Bennett at Sound Logic studios in August. Oh, I have selected them alright. About 50 of them. I cannot record a 50 song demo. I need about 5 songs. I have no idea how I am going to narrow this done. All these songs are amazing and I know that they would all show off my vocal ability. Okay...maybe I don't have 50. More like 25. How did I get so many in my head? And they are SOOOO random. I am doing a blues/jazz album but one of the songs is an 80s song that I decided I wanted to make into a jazz song. RANDOM!!! Maybe I just need to do the old...put them all individually on paper, put them in a hat and draw them by random. Not sure how else I will be able to chose. Maybe you all can help? Let me know if any of you would be willing to do a poll for me. Audience choice? That would be something I have never done before. Then I can give you all some props on my demo. What do you think? XOXO!

August = changes

This weekend was pretty amazing. Friday, I got to see and catch up with old friends from high school. Best time EVER!!! Most of us did not want the night to end it was that amazing. Some other awesome things that happened this weekend is that my hubby told me that he is going to day shift sooner than September. He will be going August 6. The sooner the better. Five years of night shift is not a fun way to have a marriage. I am so excited that we will all be together as a family again. I had a silly grin on my face the whole day after he told me that. AND...I am recording my demo the week of August 6. I have been very fortunate that a very talented pianist will be playing on my demo. I have been trying to get everything confirmed for months now and have been going back and forth on what kind of music I want to move forward with. Now that everything is confirmed with the recording studio and my pianist, I am excited and completely look forward to this project. It has been something I have been wanting to do for years and I believe now is the right time. I feel that this will get me into what I want to do in music. I am also going to be submitting a DVD to "The Voice" at around the same time. Yet another thing that is exciting. That one is a little bit nerve racking because getting a response means big things. No response could be heartbreaking for me. Aaron starts football games in August, a new school year starts in August... August just may be the month that changes EVERYTHING!!!